A CACOPHONY of cab horns filled the air outside Burnley Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon as taxi drivers took to the streets in an impromptu protest.
Less than 24 hours after Burnley Council lifted its restriction on the number of black cabs allowed on the town's streets, drivers brought traffic to a standstill with a slow drive-through.
They say they are now waiting to hear back from their barrister about taking legal action against the council on the grounds that full information was not on the table before councillors, and drivers' views were not considered.
Initially, the protesters were threatening to repeat their action – which led to gridlock for 90 minutes and angered many motorists and bus passengers caught up in the confusion – at peak times every day. However, by yesterday they had had a re-think.
"I think there will be no point in having another one," said Mr Mohammed Ibrar, chairman of the local Hackney Carriage Association. "The council is just not interested in listening to us – there's no hope."
He led fellow members of the association on the go-slow. They set off from their Croft Street base at 2-45 p.m. with a dozen black cabs and grew in number to more than 30 as they took half an hour to make the short journey to the town hall in Manchester Road, via Parker Lane, Finsley Gate and the roundabout at the junction of Trafalgar Street.
"All the drivers are really angry about this," said Mr Ibrar from his cab. "The council is simply not listening to us about this and we're not going to stand by and let this happen."
He had earlier told how drivers were concerned for their livelihoods if restrictions on the number of black cabs allowed on the streets were lifted, a proposal that has been hanging over their heads for many months. Issues of traffic congestion were also brought up by the angry drivers, who said bringing more cabs to town could cause daily gridlock, with not enough ranks to house them.
The protesters lined both sides of Manchester Road for almost an hour in their vehicles as they vented their fury outside the town hall, sounding their horns, before slowly heading back home.
A low-key police presence of town centre officers and community support officers helped to keep traffic flowing where possible, although cars and vans tailed back along every main route into the town centre at various points during the protest.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Ibrar said the drivers were keeping a united front and was pleased with public support. "We had a lot of public backing," he added. "A lot of people were asking us questions and were interested. They use us on a regular basis and gave us their total backing."
http://www.burnleytoday.co.uk/ViewArtic ... ID=1968614
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